According to API Research, the worldwide tablet market will hit an important milestone in 2012 with over 100 million units shipped for the year. API's estimate comes after the release of second quarter figures that show 25 million of the slate-like devices shipped from April through the end of June. That represented a whopping 77% year-over-year gain and a substantial 36% pick-up sequentially. For the year, ABI's Jeff Orr, senior practice director for mobile devices, sees 102 million to 110 million tablets shipped globally. According to ABI, demand for the Apple iPad is what is behind the strong tablet market.
The Apple iPad had 69% of the global tablet market in Q2
During the three month period, the Apple iPad owned a large majority of the tablet market with a 69% market share. Besides Apple's increase in market share, gains in the quarter came from Samsung and ASUS. The former owns 8.1% of the global tablet market while the latter has a 4% slice of the pie. That share should rise in coming quarters with the success of the ASUS built Google Nexus 7. RIM, whose BlackBerry PlayBook has a 1% market share, had the largest drop in the quarter. Thanks to the Amazon Kindle Fire, the online retailer is third among tablet manufacturers, ahead of ASUS but trailing Samsung.
Apple's average selling price for the iPad is declining. The company blames the price drop on 1 million Apple iPad 2 units it shipped to U.S. education customers in the second quarter. According to ABI, the price of the Apple iPad has declined 4% sequentially and 19% year-over-year during Q2. Still, Apple did ship 17 million tablets in the second quarter which amazingly came close to the 17.3 million tablets sold by all vendors during 2010.
OYSTER BAY, N.Y.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The April to June quarter of 2012 set a new record for media tablet shipments reaching nearly 25 million units with total shipments growing 36% quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) and 77% year-over-year (YoY). Apple iPad shipments represented nearly 69% of worldwide volumes for the period, according to a preliminary assessment of vendor share by market intelligence firm ABI Research. Gains in the quarter also came from Samsung (8.1%) and ASUS (4.0%), while RIM (1.0%) experienced the most significant decline. Shipments of Dell and LG ceased in the period as both companies retrench for future tablet offerings. Worldwide shipments of media tablets are expected to exceed 100 million units in 2012.
“Most impressive about Apple’s 17.0 million tablet shipments in 2Q’2012 was it nearly matched 2010 total worldwide shipments of 17.3 million for all vendors,” says Jeff Orr, senior practice director for mobile devices. Company representatives noted that nearly 1 million of its iPad 2 devices were shipped to US education customers during the period, which contributed to the company’s growth but also its continuing average selling price (ASP) decline. ABI Research estimates a 4% drop in ASP for the company QoQ and nearly 19% YoY.
Despite shipment restrictions imposed on Samsung, the Korean manufacturer maintained its second-place share for 2Q’2012, followed by Amazon and ASUS. New vendors and products are entering the fray during the second half of the year, including tablets from Google and Microsoft. ABI Research expects the new products to impact share – both positively from Google Nexus 7 and negatively from Microsoft’s Surface tablets – of Google’s Android OS used on most tablet models. “The tablet market is on track for 102 to 110 million shipments worldwide for full-year 2012,” adds Orr.
Generally thought of as mobile computing devices, the majority of tablet shipments only contain Wi-Fi support, which restricts device use to homes, facilities, and public hotspots. In 2Q’2012, less than 27% of new shipments included a mobile broadband (3G/4G) modem module, down 12% YoY. A more competitive marketplace and consumers looking to keep personal expenses down have contributed to this trend.
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